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More on CSS compliance in Internet Explorer 7

What has Microsoft actually done to improve CSS compliance in Internet …

Microsoft is serious about CSS compliance in Internet Explorer (IE), and they want everyone to know it. Not too long ago, Internet Explorer's Group Program Manager Chris Wilson took a stand against the naysayers, claiming that his team, in a limited time span, has done everything that it possibly can to make the browser adhere to CSS standards. Earlier today, another member of the IE team released his own blog post about CSS compliance in the upcoming Internet Explorer 7 browser, and he also stressed the idea that most of the IE7's development has revolved around implementing standards compliance.

The author of the post, Markus Mielke, gave two specific examples which display just how focused his team has been on adhering to standards. First, Mielke says that there was no emphasis placed on the development of proprietary CSS properties, although he backtracks slightly saying that some Microsoft-specific properties may be added in the future through the "-ms-" prefix notation. In his second example, Mielke claims that Microsoft has been working very closely with the World Wide Web Consortium's CSS group in order to resolve any outstanding issues in the browser's CSS implementation. Besides the two examples given, he also lists out a large number of CSS additions and modifications that were made to IE7. Overall, 200-plus behavioral changes were made to the browser for greater CSS 2.1 adherence.

Everything sounds peachy, but there is one major drawback to IE7 becoming CSS compliant: what do we do with all those websites that were created with IE6 in mind? The solution really isn't all that simple because it requires writing new CSS for IE7. "The only way for us to continue to improve our standards support is to get your help in changing your sites for IE7," said Mielke. Still, if your current CSS works with non-Microsoft browsers, the changes shouldn't be too drastic. Nevertheless, Microsoft has provided several documents designed to help ease the pain of transitioning CSS from IE6 into IE7.